Ruthie’s Recap: Miami Dolphins Training Camp 2020 Notes for August 25th

Tuesday saw the Miami Dolphins back on the practice field ahead of their regular season opener on September 13th - and NBC 6 sports anchor Ruthie Polinsky has all the latest from Davie, including several receivers who were not at practice.

PRACTICE NOTES

Game officials were present for the first time with the Dolphins doing lots of red zone work.
Linebacker Kyle Van Noy returned after leaving Monday’s practice with an injury.
Wide receiver Preston Williams did not practice as the team is working him back from his injury gradually.
Wide receiver Ricardo Louis left practice with an injury.
Wide receiver Jakeem Grant did not practice due to a minor injury, but spoke after practice and was in good spirits.

WHAT THEY SAID

From head coach Brian Flores' press conference before practice

On Van Noy's injury: “He got banged up a little bit yesterday. He’s getting treatment. He’s feeling a little bit better. We’re just going to take this thing day to day and we’re hopeful he’ll be out there – I know he’ll try to get out there – as soon as he can.”
On fifth round pick Curtis Weaver, who was waived yesterday: “He could get claimed. It’s a small percentage of players who do get claimed in this situation. We’ll see if we get him back. We’ll know this evening.”
On quarterback Josh Rosen: “Like all of the quarterbacks, he’s had some good moments, some bad moments. All in all, I think he’s competing. I think he’s made some – of all the quarterbacks, he’s probably got the biggest arm. He’s made some incredible throws. Consistency – I would say we need to always be more consistent at every position, specifically the quarterback. There’s a lot of competition there from ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) to Tua (Tagovailoa) to Josh. But he’s a talented player. He’s been competing. Consistency, really at that position, you need it – situationally, from a leadership standpoint. I do think he’s making a lot of progress and hopefully we’ll continue with that progress.”
On the shooting in Wisconsin of Jacob Blake: “There’s a lot that goes into this. I think for me, when a situation like this comes up again, it just reminds me that there’s a lot of fear in this world, there’s a lot of anger in this world. There’s racism, there’s classism, there’s sexism. There’s a lot of division. And what we need is unity. That’s what we need. Unfortunately, situations like this create more division and I think it’s sad. I haven’t watched it because I’m not ready to watch it emotionally. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to see; but there’s just a lot of division. We need more unity. I haven’t talked to the team about it yet, but we’ve had conversations about race and injustices. I think they know where I stand on this. I think individually, we all need to be better. We all need to be more empathetic. We all need to take more ownership of how we treat people. Again, there’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of anger on all sides. It’s unfortunate. There’s a lot of division. Hopefully, I just try to do my best to improve the situation anyway I can. I think our team tries to do that and use our platform to create more harmony and camaraderie in the world. Hopefully we take the situation and try to make something good out of it; but when it continually happens, it’s frustrating. We’ve got to do our best to try to make a kinder, more empathetic, more unified world.”
On guard Ereck Flowers taking rookies under his wing: “To me, what better of a guy to do that than someone who has had as many experiences as he’s had. He’s been in different places, been in different systems and had some success also – success and failures. When he talks to a young guy – a young offensive lineman – he’s talking to him with a lot of knowledge. I think if they just do a quick Google search, they’ll read about it and know that he’s been through a lot; and he’s gone through it and he practices hard every day and it’s important to him. He goes about his business the right way. I think he’s learned a lot over the course of his career. That’s been nice to see.”
On cornerback Nik Needham: “I think Nik has made a lot of improvement over the course of the year. How Nik came into training camp, he’s learned a lot. I think he’s matured a lot. I think he’s taken a lot more of a professional approach from his rookie year. He’s made some strides. I tell these guys, when you get your opportunity, you have to take advantage of it. It’s like basketball. When you get your opportunity, that’s like getting to the free throw line. You either make it or you don’t. That’s kind of some of the things we talk about. So when Nik goes in because somebody else goes down and plays well, that’s what we’re talking about as far as taking advantage of your opportunities. And that’s not just football, that’s life in general. Nik’s done a good job.”
On the philosophy for rookies: “As far as rookies in general and throwing them into the fire versus not throwing them into the fire, look we play the guys we feel give us the best chance to win. That was the case with – I know you mentioned Dieter. Last year he played a lot of football – a year ago – and we felt like he gave us the best chance to win. But at the same time, there’s a little bit of forecasting and predicting that we need to do as coaches, as an organization and as a personnel department, where a guy may not be better than somebody else Week 1; but the prediction and the forecast is that he may be better in Week 12. Those are decisions we have to make. Every team is making those decisions in some form or fashion. I’m not saying that’s necessarily the case.”
On linebacker Raekwon McMillan: “Raekwon has obviously started a lot of games in this league. (He’s a) good tackler, good communicator, smart player, plays in the kicking game. He’s still ascending. I think he’s doing well. He’s playing well this training camp. There’s a lot of competition at the linebacker position between Raekwon and Elandon Roberts and Calvin Munson and (Jerome) Baker and Kamu (Grugier-Hill). We’ll see where the chips fall.”

Rosen spoke after practice and was incredibly positive and self-aware. Despite getting fewer reps as of late, he understands that his job is to get better every day. He added, “The reason I’m positive about this situation is because all I can control is my development, and I think that’s going in the right direction.” He went on to say, “I’m not really focused on winning a job, I’m more focused on getting better.”